Monday, January 23, 2012

This sweet little space was designed for an even sweeter little Miss! Samantha is just the kind of precious little girl that makes you want to have a precious little girl of your own! She received a baby doll from Santa Clause this past Christmas and named her "Baby Alice"...oh, melt my heart!

We designed a little girl room for her that is sweet and sophisticated. She can gracefully grow into her new space, without it being too grown up or too juvenile, for a while.

In the image below you can see how the space looked before.

Here is the space now.

One of the first things that we did was replace the large sheets of glass from the windows. They were not insulated, not tempered and didn't meet code. In the image below, taken from another room in the house, you can see the brand new windows. We divided the large expanse of window into 3 sections. Notice the horizontal muntins, I love these!...and in a beautiful bronze too.

The new windows were layered with a gorgeous embroidered linen over a soft woven wood shade. The woven woods were outfitted with a blackout liner to help little peepers stay asleep.

I found this beautiful distressed dresser and paired it with an antique trumeau. I love the way the marigold in the trumeau complements the pale lavender walls. I forgot to snap a pic of the custom painted chandy but you catch a glimpse of it here in the mirror.

The dresser paint is chippy and rough and every now and then you can see a fleck of gold peer through. Love.

The trumeau. Double love.

See that cute little nightstand? It has a surprise when you open the drawers. The citrus green is the same green in the graphic fabric on the bedding. I love this. It's like a lined envelope, or a beautiful patterned lining of a jacket. Such a special detail that often gets overlooked.

Take a closer look at our bedding.

In the image below, you can see how the closet looked before. Yikes. That's no closet for a princess.

We took out the dated accordion doors and redesigned the shelving and hanging system inside.

The closet doors received a nice little piece of jewelry as well.

In another corner of the room, we designed a reading nook. I love to come into this space now and see Samantha's woobie blanket all balled up next to some books. Just precious.

I hung some chicken wire birdcages, adorned with large lavender bugs above, for a little whimsy.

Here's a closer look at some of the art details in the room.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing Samantha's sweet, little space.

I also hope that you are having a great week! Thanks for stopping by to see what we are up to at M. E. Beck Design, Inc.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

I've talked about this home several times here, here and here. It is a wonderful home from the 20's that we have been restoring over the past year. Today I'll show you the dining room. The image below is of the room before. One of the things that we wanted to salvage for the room was the wall texture. The walls are solid plaster and have a beautiful, deep texture, but we needed to get rid of the glossy paint (bad idea in this style). We also salvaged the antique Spanish crystal chandelier.The floor looks a little cool in the photos but it isn't an inlaid marble floor as it appears. It was an unattractive painted cement tile and so we didn't feel too bad removing it. We replaced the floor with an amazing French herringbone wood floor.

I tied the same graphic feeling into the custom sisal rug by Fibreworks.The ceiling had been sprayed with popcorn at some point (see image below), and so we removed all of that and added a beautiful plaster texture to coordinate with the walls. We added birch beams to the ceiling as well. The beams give the room some architectural interest that was lacking.We also cased the plaster openings to accent the 13" thick walls and to give the pass throughs a more finished look.We replaced the old windows with stunning bronze casement windows. I love the graphic that a horizontal muntin creates. I use this look often in my work because I love it so much!Cremone locks make me smile and stare lovingly at whatever they are attached to :-)Linen French cord and nailhead detail on the custom dining chairs.

In the image below, you can see the beautiful Spanish crystal chandelier that was original to the home. Love! We had it rewired and professionally cleaned (which for those of you who don't know, this means it had to hang from an A-frame in the back of a truck so that it could be transported to the tradesman's shop for rewiring and cleaning-sidenote: I so appreciate someone who has perfected their trade and takes pride in their work) and it looks stunning!!!

I hope you've enjoyed another little peek into this fabulous home. I still have tons more to show you as we finish different areas.

How hard is it to come back to work after the holidays?!?!...couple that with a long maternity leave...sheesh!

I hope everyone out there is managing ;-) and getting a great start to the new year!

M. E. Beck Design, Inc.

Maria E. Beck, RID, ASID | Principal Designer

Welcome to Live Beautifully. I'm a licensed interior designer and principal of M. E. Beck Design, Inc. Follow along as I post about my interior design business, current design projects, my family, my travels and things that inspire me. My hope is that you might be inspired as well. Thanks for visiting!